RG&E substation debate expands choices

The Krenzer family, which farms at 2380 Scottsville Rd. in Chili, has disputed RG&E’s claim of the need for land to upgrade facilities because that upgrade would require using land that the Krenzer’s currently farm. A new review has proposed seven sites for the substation.(Photo: SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/File photo)Buy Photo

The dispute between RG&E and a Chili farm family over the location of a new electric substation has morphed into a fresh examination of seven prospective sites for the contested facility.

The state Public Service Commission will make the final decision on the site. The seven possible locations, in a three-mile-long swath of land, are in Chili and Henrietta.

"We're optimistic. It's quite the process — it's challenging and it's complicated. But it does seem like they're taking a second look as to where the best site for that substation is, and this time around they are considering agricultural impact," said Marie Krenzer, who with her husband, Dave, has argued that the substation would unduly disrupt their farming operations.

The company's Substation 255 will be a key part of its $254 million Rochester Area Reliability Project, which will allow RG&E to pull more electricity from the power grid and prevent future shortages.

When it planned the project, RG&E concluded it needed to have the project in use by the end of 2014 to make sure it could continue to meet future demand for electricity. Since that time, however, the company has revisited its forecasting.

"Based on RG&E's updated forecast and analysis, the year of need is 2013. RG&E concludes that it needs to place the RARP in service at the earliest possible date," spokesman Dan Hucko said Thursday.

If the PSC chooses the substation site that RG&E prefers, the new station and transmission lines could be in service by mid-2016, the company said. Selection of a different substation site would add eight months to that timetable.

The company had decided the best location for the $55 million substation was in a Chili farm field between Scottsville Road and the Genesee River. The state PSC signed off on that site early last year.

But the Krenzers later complained they hadn't been informed and had not had a chance to point out the impact on their 670-acre family farm of the substation and three related transmission lines. They have gathered support from other farmers and politicians, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who held a news conference at their farm last year.

The Krenzers have advocated a different substation location farther west in Chili.

In August, the PSC asked the parties to find a mutually acceptable solution. When that didn't work, the commission formally reopened the matter in November and said it would make a decision itself. It assigned administrative law judge Eleanor Stein to assist in the process.

In a letter filed with the commission Monday, Stein said there now are seven sites under active consideration. She asked each of the parties in the case — RG&E, the Krenzers and several state agencies, among others — to express an opinion on each of them.

Stein then will try to narrow down the list, and set a timetable for arriving at her final recommendation and a decision by the commission, she wrote in Monday's letter.

Public notice also will be needed.

"Not only will notification of landowners be required, but some additional methods of communication with the affected public (such as town meetings, social media notification, or public forums) will be necessary, to ensure that potentially affected residents receive actual notice of alternative routes under consideration," Stein wrote.

Hucko said RG&E isn't sure how long the process will take.

"The ALJ will determine the exact procedure, so we can't say with any certainty when the Public Service Commission will select the final site. We can say it's vital that the site be selected very soon in order to maintain reliability of our service," he said.

RG&E has said Substation 255 should be built adjacent to the high-voltage transmission lines that cross Monroe County just north of the New York State Thruway. Those lines, owned by the New York Power Authority, already provide much of the electricity used in the Rochester area and would supply the new substation.

When it announced the reliability project in 2011, RG&E said it then could deliver up to 2,500 megawatts to Rochester-area customers. The new substation and transmission lines would allow it to deliver an additional 800 megawatts.

The seven sites are strung out along that transmission corridor. All seven were initially considered by RG&E, with six of them set aside as less desirable than the one company officials ultimately chose.

• Documents submitted to the Public Service Commission on the substation siting and other aspects of the project. http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterCaseNo=11-T-0534&submit=Search+by+Case+Number